Blair's Boom Continues: West Bank Stays Bust

It looks as if Tony Blair's preposterous ambition to become 'President of Europe' has been stymied, and that his rumoured preparedness to forego a reputed £5million a year will not be put to the test.
His vainglorious occupation of the role of economy-builder for the Palestinian people has attracted occasional bursts of the usual celeb publicity; but the measurable achievements are minimal and they have made no perceptible contribution to the 'peace process'.

Meanwhile the nomination of two Muslims for middle-ranking posts in the Obama administration has sent theAmerican right into another paroxysm of phobia: and there's no sign there that Blair's Faith Foundation has any mitigating influence on such propaganda.

It is not possible to change what people think. Blair's legalisated enforcement of political correctness has not suppressed frank discussion of matters of concern in the family circle: as is evidenced by this week's report of a massive rise in the use of racist abuse by even the under-fives in British schoools. Apartheid has prevailed in schools in the old northern mill towns for three decades, while teachers pretend that armed neutrality between ethinc groups [punctuated by occasional violent flare-ups] is evidence of a satisfactory development of inter-faith and inter-racial relationships.

President Blair would not have been able to cope with the crisis-to-come in Europe: when the continuing relative economic decline of the continent exposes the ethno-religious faultline that everybody knows to exist.  This will require sensitive staesmanship: not spin, lies and posturing.

Palestine Tragedy Deepens

As the cynics have predicted all along, there has never been serious intent in enough of the parties for the 'roadmap' process to come to any positive conclusion.
The effluxion of time since the deal was notified has enabled massive settlement activity to proceed; and the disillusion of Palestinians with any leadership has intensified.
The role of the United States, so heavily 'bulled' in the early days of the Obama presidency, has sunk back to the usual support for Israel combined with offers of subsidy for anyone else in the region who will tolerate Israel.
The lack of determination by the United States to 'discipline' Israel is often ascribed to the 'Israeli' or 'Jewish' lobby in the country. There is no doubt that the Jewish supporters of Israel are influential in most advanced countries, but there is another, more powerful force at work in the United States: American History.
This unrecognised force will ensure that the US will NEVER side against Isreal.
To understand the reasons for this, see THE LEVANTINE LOZENGE, accessible from this site.